In most cancers, mortality is not due to the primary tumor but rather to the derived metastases. This malignant progression is clinically defined by the appearance of metastatic cells. Tumor metastases are typically defined by a primary loss of cell adhesion and an increase of cell motility, which allows for invasive cell to leave the initial tumor site and colonize various target tissues.
Metastases are considered as a recurrent feature of uncontrolled malignant progression of cancer. During this process, tumor cells complete their malignant transformation by increasing their migratory capacity. Cancer cells can then disseminate and establish new tumor foci in far away sites. This event is termed “metastatic cascade,” which, as indicated immediately above, is marked by invasion of tissues around the tumor, venous or lymphatic intravasation, migration and establishment of new tumors in distant places of an organism that may escape from all innate defense mechanisms.
Because no efficient therapeutic options presently exist for the treatment or prevention of metastatic tumors, metastatic invasion a major cause of death worldwide. Due to the frequency of cancers diagnosed at the metastatic stage and the lack of viable therapeutic options at this stage of the disease, the development of molecules that specifically target metastatic invasion is crucial for a major breakthrough in cancer treatments.
The compounds and methods of use as described herein are consistent with numerous published reports during the last twenty years that demonstrate a link between changes in RNA alternative splicing and metastatic invasion, which has opened new avenues for therapeutic strategies.